Pendla: It is a Love-Hate Relationship

Our Class (sorry about the poor quality)

The township were majority of the students live.

They are adorable (even though they kick me). The reason I love going!

Mozambique

Waterfront

Lunch @ the Fish Market

Scenic Route on the way home. "God's Window". A little too cloudy to see the view.

We had no idea what to expect...

The border was crazy and it took us over an hour to get through. Made some friends while waiting for visas that told us some good places to go and see! People try to help you fill out forms then ask for money. It was kind of overwhelming, but we made it. We celebrated a little prematurely...

Maputo, the capital, was really crowded and hard to navigate. Some of the major intersections have no traffic lights and like always, there are people everywhere. We were the only white people which drew some unwanted attention. Decided to get out of the city because it was too overwhelming at the moment and drove north. Before we could make it out of the city and road construction we got stopped at a police control point. I had just taken my seatbelt off to take my sweatshirt off and at that moment we were asked to pull the car to the side of the road. Then I preceded to have my first experience with corrupt cops. He was holding Luke's passport and told us he would have to right us and ticket and fine us if we did not give him R500. We didn't even have that much! We gave him some meticais (mozambique currency) but he kept asking for more and told us not to hold it up high (he seemed really nervous and shady about it all). Finally I gave him R300 because I just wanted him to leave us alone and was not quite sure what would happen if we didn't. The rest of the trip we were nervous of interacting with police... not a very comforting feeling.

It started downpouring, getting dark, and people were walking along the sides of the road but we made it to Xai Xai. Found a gas station attendant who spoke a little English, Portugese is their national language, who directed us to some accomodations. Stayed at a B&B with an ocean view. Lost power several times during the night. The next morning the wave were huge and we decided it wasn't the best spot to snorkel. Tried to drive north, but the roads were too muddy and washed out and we were slipping all over the road. Back to Maputo we went.

After asking a couple people who couldn't really help us much we found an internet cafe where we got directions to a backpackers. No one really spoke enough English to be of help, I understood some written Portugese because of it's similarity to Spanish, but speaking was impossible. Found the backpackers, the nicest place we stayed so far! Walked around town, found some delicious seafood. The next day we drove around the waterfront. It was beautiful. The water was so warm. The whole country is very tropical looking. Had a delicous lunch at the fish market. Outdoor seating, then your waiter takes you through the market where you choose from live lobster, crabs, prawns, fish, calamari, and other seafood. Then the restaurant cooks it up for you. The best seafood I have ever had!

Back across the border, which was much easier this time. Stayed a night at a half-way point. Drove some more along a scenic route by a canyon, some waterfalls, and the northern mountains. Stayed at an ex-mafia mansion backpackers in Jo'burg, hopped on a plane, back to PE with an hour to spare before class!

Kruger National Park

The Leopard

The Waterbuffalo

I will add pictures later... maybe... getting down to finals week so I am getting a little busier with school work.

Anyways, we decided to stop at Kruger just because it was on the way to Mozambique. It ended up being much more fun and exciting than Luke and I expected. The night before we went into the park we stayed in the most disgusting room. It was basically a trailer behind a gas station. There were lots of ants and cockroaches, but it was the only thing we could find under R1000.

We got to the park early next morning and begin to drive around. It is a bit like Yellowstone except you can't get out of your car outside of the campsites because the animals are more dangerous. We saw a lot of impala and some cool birds. We were content with that because we weren't expecting much, then we saw a baby rhino with it's mom on the side of the road. Didn't really get a good picture because I panicked when the baby looked at us and started to walk towards the car. These were black rhino (more dangerous than white). After that the animals just kept appearing! More rhino, zebra, Leopard!, hippo, Hyena, wild dogs, giraffe, elephant, Waterbuffalo, kudu, Waterbuck, all kinds of antelope, crocodile, warthogs, ostrich... I think that covers it. Leopard are pretty rare to see and people were shocked that we saw one not on a guided safari. All of this from the comfort of our Kia Pinto! We had some issues with waterbuffalo not moving out of the road. We decided to stop driving after them after I read that they are the most dangerous animal because they charge unexpectedly :).

Stayed a night in the park then continued on to Mozambique!

Drakensburg & Durban

Northern Drakensburg - Amphitheatre Backpackers

We were a little upset about everything that went wrong: kept blowing fuses, missing mattress, no hot water, etc. It was all okay though because we could see the amphitheatre (below).

Royal Natal Park - Tugela Falls

We had to cross this river at leat 10 times on our hike. Sometimes over waste deep!

Tugela falls, 2nd highest in the world (or Africa) I can't remember. But it is huge.

LESOTHO

The most beautiful place yet. Entirely in the mountains, covered with wildflowers, little to no cars. Really peaceful.

'

We drove through this river.

Home-brewed beer. Really nasty, thick, and yeasty.

The lady who brews the beer. I think she drinks a lot of it too.

Cathedral Peak Park

Of course, Luke was not going to be completely happy until he went fly-fishing.

DURBAN

Beautiful beaches, but full of construction, changing street names, people and cars everywhere. So we tried to avoid the city center and stay in the suburbs. No idea if all their construction will be done in time for the world cup...



Dropping the car off at 5am.

Cape Town

Table Mountain - climbed it. A lot harder climb than it looked. It was worth the view from the top.

Almost everyday Table Mtn is covered by a cloud (called the Tablecloth).

City Tour - Saw the Company Gardens, Parliament, Cape of Good Hope Castle, and District 6.

A prank by some students The new FIFA stadium (one in every major city)

The Harbor......... where you can find yummy seafood & good views

Also ate at Mama Africa. Awesome live music!

Cape of Good Hope

- not actually the most southern point or where the two oceans meet. Just assumed to be this and only the most South-Western point. Kind of disappointing, but still cool.

There were lots of penquins!! The only place in S. Africa that they are found on the mainland.

Also a lot of baboons. I really dislike them and find them scary. There are signs everywhere warning that they are dangerous and not to feed them.

Robben Island

- Where Mandela was in prison

I was surprised. The prison was actually quite small in comparison with the Island. People actually live/lived on the Island. It had a good view of Cape Town. There were actually 2 instances of people escaping by swimming - both times they were caught when they reached shore. Our tour guide was a former prisoner. It made all the stories about the prison seem more real.

The ferry we took to the island Nelson Mandela's cell

Wine Tasting in Stellenbosch & Speir

Drank Directly from the Barrell Learned how to properly smell the wine

The week ended with a really awesome International Jazz Festival. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the music. I think Cape Town is my favorite city so far. It is very clean, easy to navigate, beautiful, and has a lot to do. I enjoyed hanging out by the Waterfront area - I love just looking at the boats. I also like Green Market Square - pedesterian square with cafes and market stand, also a free live jazz concert one night. Long Street was another place we all hung out a lot at night. Definitely would go back!

Bungee Jumping!!

Surprisingly, I wasn't scared... until the moment my toes were on the edge and I looked down. Even then, I was still more excited then scared. The freefall lasted about 4 seconds then I swung back up like a pendulum, down again, and continued to bounce up and down until I was retrieved and pulled back to the bridge. It was awesome, though I didn't enjoy being upside for so long. I was really disoriented bouncing upside-down.

... so I just realized I didn't transfer my picture to a flash drive... you will just have to wait.

p.s. My birthday was probably my best birthday yet. Everyone had a surprise party for Jake and I the night before our birthday. Then we went into a township - shebeen- . The next day (my actual birthday) I relaxed and Luke surprised me with a delicious dinner (that he made) on the roof. To end the day we all had ice cream cake :).